When you look good (not that I don’t)—all praise and blame to a mother who looks twenty-five at fifty—and you find yourself alone and stupid in a city not exactly celebrated for being nice and respectful to women, the capital of a country that boasts of a cultural legacy quite celebrated for worshipping the feminine, it can get seriously confusing and tough. All said, looking good is crucial, and thanks to the shift in urban consciousness, men would agree too. My homework was done well, I was sure of that—introducing Ayurvedic and organic methods into life that make you more confident and evoke a sense of discipline in your conduct.
There’s a strange kind of empowerment that comes to you when you take complete charge of your concerns and banish the bad for good.
‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.’ This American proverb may have its roots in the quite neglected fact that we take our planet for granted, quite unapologetically so. Not to forget how the only creatures with developed minds to walk on the planet seem not only determined to neglect the offerings of mother earth, but also ignore its cries for help in the process.
When I compare my hometown to any metropolitan city, I can name a dozen things that, back there, I do not have access to. However, it’s not such a bad thing. Necessity being the mother of invention, people in smaller towns have much healthier alternatives to our so-called daily need products up their sleeves. And that’s what I’ve been meaning to share in this book. That’s the purpose of this. To arm millennials like myself with healthy choices and alternatives to looking good, amidst all the cacophony and constant streaming of hundreds of products claiming to be the go-to-it for our daily wardrobe issues of surviving, even emerging victorious, with ease in a world overripe with an untiring unforgiving economic engine, and doing it all while looking good.
If there’s one thing millennials are known for, it is for our knack to hack our way to getting what we want in life.
And time and again, we’ve been told that there are no shortcuts. But what most people fail to notice (or perceive) is that we also look for a cause and meaning to everything. And we do give the due patience to things we believe in. And all the skyrocketing success of anti-animal cruelty, women empowerment, veganism and organic fashion is a proof of that.
Centuries before cosmetics and chemicals took over, the Egyptians used clay and olive oil paste as soaps, milk and honey as moisturizers, even body sugaring for hair removal, and the Chinese were busy restoring their youthful skin with jade rollers (that are back in trend, btw!).
But, even after all this evolution, it’s mesmerizing how we still like to know if there’s a historical backing to a newly launched product. Is it vegan? Does it have ancient herbal ingredients? Is it all natural (like it claims to be)? The questions are endless but the concern is just one. If it’s natural, it’s harmless, hence no harm giving it a shot.
Why rely on chemicals in the first place when we Indians have more than just ‘use coconut oil to soften your cuticles’ as a tip from the ancient beauty book. In fact, you’ll be humbled to find out how the rural areas of our country are practising a rare set of ways to bypass skin concerns that are a goldmine of DIY hacks.
Belonging to a small town has not only given me primary exposure to the lesser-known skincare secrets (that eventually contribute to fitness and wellness), but it has also taught me the importance of getting back to basics. To love make-up—but to love real skincare a million times more.
I am blessed to have a parent who has fed and treated me with those secrets before I moved out to live in a big city. I was prepped by parents who wanted to make me immune to the mental and physical challenges that were coming my way.
My book, Roots to Radiance, has been written with an objective to bring back the power of organic living into our routine. From superficial beauty to wellness, nature has solutions to multiple problems that we experience every day.
For me, my mother, who is in her fifties but looks like she’s twenty, is living proof of what a DIY, organic lifestyle can do. And this book is to record as much as I can in one place to be able to refer and suggest to my mates out there.
Mom and me
But before I get to that, I want to ask you all one question: What’s the best self-love or self-care advice someone has given you?
If you ask me, I’d go with a piece of advice my mom gave me. She asked me to be my own mother to assess every situation. Whether it’s reviewing my lifestyle and eating habits or trying to achieve those unrealistic body/beauty standards social media teaches us to live up to.
‘Love, nurture, care, rebuke and supervise yourself—like I would,’ she says.
And from my experience, I can tell you that applying this one rule has brought so much discipline and confidence in my conscience.
Because shielding yourself with natural goodness is what your biggest well-wisher would want for you.
Mother Earth, Mother Nature, our Magna Mater is capable of so much healing.
From plants and herbs that can erase the existence of a number of diseases and concerns, it also has the power to shield your well-being just as a mother would.
And if you can’t do that, here’s another interesting parenting tip I learnt from Kate Middleton and Prince William via Internet obviously—Do you notice how they always crouch down to talk to their kids? That technique is called ‘active listening’, meaning when you’re making a physical effort to talk to your child, you’re boosting their self-esteem and letting them know they’re important. Now this advise is not from my mother, it’s from me! If you can’t mother yourself, treat yourself like you’re your own precious child. Aim at lifting you mentally. Doing so will unlock a whole new level of self-love, self-care, self-worth for you. Beauty walks hand in hand with high thinking.
So gear up to enter the world of appreciating nature’s offerings, going high on gratitude, and always remember––holding your head high is not situational, it’s a way of life.
Or as my friend Matthew Higgins, a self-made millionaire would say: Don’t compromise your integrity even when you’re drowning. Just hold your head high to stay above the water and you’ll be fine!
Bobbi Brown’s Letter to Millennials
When I got in touch with Nikita in the early 2019 and she told me she was writing this book and wanted my input, I asked what it was going to be about, and she said, ‘In your chapter, I want you to inspire women in beauty.’ After a thorough discussion of how we should go about it, we decided it would not be a chapter about beauty tips. It will be about life lessons and believing in yourself. As I’ve always said, the more positive you are, and the more confident you are, the more gorgeous it makes you look. Beauty is about goodness from within, and yes, tons of confidence.
While we were discussing more about the book, my plan of coming to India was on the cards, but wasn’t certain. I certainly didn’t know that a dinner with her over candid conversations was just sixty days away; it’s crazy how small the world is. We got on video calls to discuss what this book was about, and how culturally rich and beautiful I thought India was. In my years of studying women, no matter where they came from—different countries, races and cultures—the most appealing thing about them was their zeal and what drives them.
We decided this would be a motivational letter to women who were in as well as outside of the beauty industry. While ‘typical’ beauty lessons are included throughout this book, I took the opportunity to use this chapter to feed your soul with positivity, through my personal life lessons.
As a make-up artist I have worked with women from many different countries. What is inspiring to me is realizing that we are all very different—our skin colours, our lip colours, our eyelid colours. I used to study the colour of the lips of models, my kids’ babysitters, etc. I was fascinated by the different skin tones. I realized there was no make-up in the market to enhance the natural skin tones of people, and that led me to designing my own make-up line. The idea was not to change
the shade or colour of their features; it was about celebrating everyone for who they were. True beauty is always in the details, and oftentimes, the unique characteristics of a person’s face.
Teenage girls can be very overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices available to them. Millennials are stressed, not only because of how competitive the world has become, but also because of the many options making it difficult for them to get a clear picture of who they are. I myself went to three colleges until one day it became crystal-clear to me what my path was. What you want to do should fascinate and speak to you.
Since I was a young girl, I loved make-up and I loved playing with it. I liked how pretty I felt when I had it on, and I also loved watching my mom do her make-up. I didn’t know that I would enter it as a career. My mother asked me, ‘If it’s your birthday and you could do anything you want, what would you do?’ I said, ‘I would love to go to the department store and play with make-up.’ She said, ‘Why don’t you study that in college?’ So that is what I did. It was my third and last college. They let me design my own major, as they didn’t have make-up as one, but they allowed me to get a fine arts degree with a focus on theatrical make-up, and that’s what I did. And I pretty much designed my own programme, which led me to being an entrepreneur. So, long story short—that’s the thing about wishes. If you wish for just one thing, it’ll lead you straight to the arms of your true desires. Life’s too short not to give that a shot.
You don’t have to know everything in the beginning. Baby steps are simple. Take them! When I was younger, I didn’t even think about being an entrepreneur—I was just thinking about how I was going to pay my rent. I waitressed, and I moved to New York to volunteer doing make-up for magazines. It was a slow process, it didn’t happen quickly, and I never thought about having my own line. One day, I thought of making a lipstick that was different from what was already available in the market. I made it and thought my friends, models, editors might buy this, but I never thought it would be a company. The first big editorial piece on the line was for one of the biggest beauty magazines, and I could not believe how many I sold after that. Trust your journey.
Not having the resources to put a plan in place is not the worst situation. I never understood what the term ‘brand’ actually stood for even when I was starting out. My company evolved when people started hearing about me. I was still working as a make-up artist at the time, while also making cosmetics. I was being written about in magazines and getting on morning shows to talk about beauty and make-up once a month. People really started to know who I was. Even when my brand and I were becoming popular, my struggles didn’t end. I’ll never forget this one order where the cases kept falling off the lipsticks so we had to delay the launch and get the top of those lipsticks to fit. I was firefighting the packaging struggles, doing TV shows, doing make-up, etc., without having a clear picture of where I was headed. It was okay for it to be unclear, as long as I was heading somewhere.
When I first started, the market was about a more artificial look. I had to work very hard to explain to women how much better it looked when they just enhanced their natural skin tones to get a sun-kissed, flawless, radiant look. In just four years, we got a phone call from the biggest beauty brand in the world making an offer to buy our brand.
I had finally convinced an artificial make-up-loving market to flaunt their natural selves instead. I did not fit in, but I had started a revolution. There were times when I had to do everything from scratch, and times where we had people to help me with everything. I went from being a small company to becoming a part of the major leagues and having the infrastructure and staff to do everything I wanted. There was plenty of transition when my company sold, but what remained constant were the amazing creative directors, copywriters and staff I had. They constantly said I was an inspiration to them, but really, they were inspiring me. You will see women bringing each other down, but you can also see women holding each other’s hands to achieve their goals.
Your vision is your win. I’ve had many people weigh in their inputs to influence the formulae, the marketing and the philosophy of my brands from time to time, and those campaigns didn’t do nearly as good as they would’ve if they went by my vision. You are the truth! You must be bold. You have the right to announce what’s right and take the actions you take. Trust that instinct.
In my sixties now, I’ve launched a new wellness brand, my own podcast, come out with my ninth book, a lifestyle website and a boutique hotel.
When Nikita asked me if I have ever wished to retire, I said I can’t imagine myself not working. I try so hard to shut my brain off but it is really difficult. I let it make noise, and listen to it.
When the time came, after 22 years of serving as the CCO at my namesake brand, I had to move on, and let go of my name, without knowing what’s on the other side. My ninth book is about beauty on the inside out, and that led me to create my wellness brand. It was my art and inclination that showed me the next step. As I’ve said, there are all kinds of days—some amazing, some horrible—and when hard times strike you, you have to know that the solution is in you. It’s in your capabilities, and the key to the way out is probably sitting right in front of you.
Not everyone is going to join hands with you on your ideas. When you stick to what you believe in, hold on to it tightly, and show them how it’s done. I’ve had people mock my ideas, and do the same thing five years later when it becomes a trend. I’ll let you in on another personal story from many, many years ago when digital insanity was about to pick up. I was invited to an Eastern European country to speak to the editors of a major publication. Their magazine had just started to have financial troubles, so they asked me, ‘What would you do?’ I said, ‘Honestly, I don’t understand when we’re reading an editorial and I see an outfit, why can’t I press the button and get the outfit.’ They said, ‘Nooo, this will never happen.’
Well, guess what’s happening now? Being ahead is a gift given to a chosen few.
Trust is your weapon. Instinct is your path. And self-belief looks good on you!
—Bobbi Brown
17 March 2019, The Bahamas
Part I The Body
1
Face
The index of your mind, heart and soul. Our imperfections are not half the reflection of how much we’re taking in. Managing life, work and mess . . . it’s time for a #Shoutout to how terrific we are anyway!
Fellas, let’s face it . . . there’s a reason why this is Chapter 1.
When you’re in hurry (which is basically every morning), it all comes down to perfecting your face over anything else.
Waking up early, attempting to follow the ideal morning rituals, making breakfast, getting ready and then kicking some serious butt at work . . . and still not feeling like enough was done . . . How much does a girl have to do? Whenever I feel overburdened with #LifeStruggles, it takes me back to that scene from Sex and the City S1E11 where Samantha tells Carrie, ‘Men don’t want to know women are human.’ Meaning they’re expected to be perfect all the time.
But I’d say, forget men, going by the amount of judgement there is out there, everyone has shown us how nasty it can get, not to forget our own judgements.
Imperfections are beautiful . . . but we all know how crazy it gets when you are after a pimple or a blemish to go away, when it’s seem to have moved and settled down permanently on your face, without paying rent.
I’m sure you’ve had one of those days when you spent one hour to get ready and no one (relevant) saw you, but when you dressed down, made a messy bun and went out, everyone you knew was in that supermarket.
A Forbes article even said that casual dressing can keep you from getting a promotion!1
And as much as I would like to permit you to do what you like, and be the way you want to be, life will teach you that putting your best foot forward each day, looking your best beautiful every moment, and moving forward with fierceness is the only way to be.
On that note, let’s establish some basic morning rules:
As dermats say, it’s always better to switch products from time to time than using the same products throughout the year. This chapter will provide you the knowledge of what your skin needs round the clock—how to start and end the day and how to prep your skin according to the season.
As they say, the first step to looking good is feeling good. And morning being the index of the day . . . should be started right! While you’re double-tapping every meme on social media that encourages you to snooze your alarm, be a couch potato and finish a full pizza on your own, you must know that you can unlock the best version of you only when you’re disciplined.
Starting your day right isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Just a few ground rules adding to your morning routine can take major beauty concerns off your chart.
Something as small as the way you wash your face impacts how you’ll look years from now. Surprising, isn’t it? You’ll be more surprised about what I’m about to tell you—you’ve been washing your face wrong, all this time!
What most people think is that in this busy and hurried lifestyle, how does it matter how you wash your face as far as you lather it up, and wipe it clean? Except it does! And most of us tend to move our fingertips in downward circular motions, causing your skin to sag over time. Most of us are also guilty of keeping the water temperature too high and applying excess pressure on the skin. And this is how you make it right:
Roots to Radiance Page 2